Digital Media Experts: Stay Ahead of the Curve in 2015

It’s no news that 2014 was another huge year for digital marketing; mobile marketing continues to rise, Facebook’s organic reach continues to drop, and much more. Since we’ve seen social media and other digital media exponentially explode over the last year, we can only assume that the digital world will continue to expand in 2015.

Here’s what my team thinks will be the big things to watch out for in 2015.

Joe Recomendes – Chief Operating Officer – @JRecomendes

In 2015, you’ll continue to see mobile on the rise. While many smaller, nimbler agencies and tech-savvy smaller companies have already embraced it, it’s likely that larger companies will continue to lag behind the leading marketing trends and we’ll be hearing about “how enterprise can adopt mobile” for the next few years while everyone embraces it. On the crowdfunding side, Title III of the JOBS Act will continue to be a hot topic until equity crowdfunding becomes fully democratized. If the average consumer is granted access to small crowdfunded investment opportunities, everyone in the crowdfunding space will need to quickly adapt to the new landscape.

Vincent Ammirato – Search Marketing Director – @VincentAmmirato

Ambient intelligence. Amazon’s Echo made recent headlines but ambient intelligence has been in the background for years. If you use Google Voice and a dog barks in the background, Google will start serving you ads for dog owners. This trend is going to intensify as we let technology track more and more of our activities. Echo, the always on, always listening computer connected to Amazon cloud will know what you want before you even start to search…and provide a deal that is catered directly to you.

Jessica Chesney – Digital Marketing Manager – @jessJANEica

While digital marketers used to be able to run blanket ads to millions of users, in 2015, I think we’re going to need to focus more and more on micro-targeting. With the amount of advertising that people are shoveled on a daily basis, it’s important we hit more qualified individuals to give them exactly what they want rather than throwing ads at everyone, regardless of their interests.

This holds true for any type of content- you’ll stand out more if you’re giving people what they want rather than making everyone sort through all of the content they’re constantly exposed to.

Angela Kotsokalis – Creative Designer – @akotsdesign

Smartphone and tablet users on the go continue to increase and so will mobile-first strategies. I think more brands will put more thought into supporting mobile technology in the next few months in order to create great experiences for customers while browsing their mobile devices. Whether it’s creating a mobile version website or going the responsive web design route, creating a positive experience for the end user is what is important. Otherwise, it’s easy to hand off customers to competitors who utilize this trend.

Elizabeth Breedlove – Content Marketing Manager – @elizbreed

In 2015 we’ll see social media become even more valuable to brands. However, we’ll see a shift in the types of content on social networks as the space becomes more and more crowded and as platforms – specifically Facebook – make it harder to be noticed organically. Ads will also be more important, and the type of content posted on social media will shift from promotional to community-building. This shift in content will include an increase in videos as a form of promotion on social networks – beyond just YouTube.

Suzann Knudsen – PPC Specialist – @thatdjSpider

* VIDEO. With Facebook looking to take on YouTube, there are going to be more platforms to push across. I’m betting Facebook rolls out pre-rolls and in-video advertising before the end of the 2nd quarter.

* I think agencies will need to start coming up with various video edits to promote Kickstarters – pulling the best bits from their videos in order to create :15 -:30 clips. Hiring an agency or a partner with some editing experience in this realm might be something to look at.

* Stronger response from journalists via social media, where personal connections via these channels will accomplish more than mass e-mail PR. Instead of e-mail lists, we’ll be creating social handle lists.

* As mobile app business continues to increase, being able to market successfully to this demographic will be important.

Jared Strichek – Search Marketing Analyst – @JaredStrichek

Mobile usage is growing exponentially and will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Morgan Stanley analysts anticipate mobile Internet usage to surpass desktop Internet usage in 2015. The consumer is now constantly connected, allowing for marketers to target them in different mediums throughout the entire day. From creating responsive websitesto increasing their mobile ad spend, marketers need to account for the differences in user behavior from mobile to desktop and adapt their strategies accordingly.

Erin Kenny – Public Relations Account Coordinator – @erinkennypr

Visual content is going to be huge in 2015. Audiences are going to be consuming more and more content this year, and as they do that, they won’t have the time or desire to focus on anything with a text heavy format. Visual storytelling is a simple way to convey data and get to the point in an engaging format. Marketers should consider visually enhancing everything they do, from press releases to Facebook posts.

Mary Reed – Public Relations Account Coordinator – @MaryJean_

I think social media and connections made through personal profiles will be a driving factor in 2015. Email pitches will be replaced with Twitter pitches and professionals can work together through LinkedIn and other networks to help each other reach common goals. With the social media push will come the personalization of marketing. No longer will journalists want to deal with “Media Professionals,” but instead from the actual people and profiles behind the campaign. That means well-established personal social media profiles could end up being more influential than those of some brands.

Megan Jasso – Public Relations Account Coordinator – @meg_jass

I believe that 2015 is going to be the year that every aspect of marketing and public relations revolves around creating content that people actually care about. People are just going to keep being bombarded constantly with new and repeat information. Marketing and PR pros are going to have to cut through the static and deliver interesting and creative content to consumers in order to obtain and keep their attention. As professionals, we can no longer assume that people are interested in what we have to say. Instead, we need to focus on what people really want to see and create content that reflects that.

Olivia Sorrells – Public Relations Account Coordinator – @oliviaoliviahs

I predict that creating creative content will be one of the biggest marketing trends in 2015. With the internet being completely oversaturated with constant regurgitated information, I think creativity and content personalization will be the best way to connect with journalists and bloggers. Sending out the same generic press releases and pitches to journalists and bloggers will be a thing of the past. Using connections, interests, and personal accounts on social media platforms, will be marketing specialists best tools to use.